Numbers show sky did not fall from partial shutdown

January 11, 2014

As part of their ongoing campaign to blame Republicans for everything bad that happens in the United States, President Barack Obama and fellow liberals warned this fall that the partial shutdown of government would erode confidence in the U.S. economy, both here and abroad.

It did not.

Failure to agree on federal spending was a two-way disagreement, of course. Obama and liberals in Congress bear just as much blame as conservatives. But that was not how the White House propaganda played it.

Disagreements over federal spending and the national debt limit were solely the GOP's fault, Obama and his minions insisted. And the government shutdown from Oct. 1-16 would have dire consequences, they added.

Again, that was not so.

In October, retail spending in the U.S. totaled $383.7 billion - up $25 billion from the same month in 2012.

The national unemployment rate dropped, going from 7.3 percent in October to 7 percent in November.

Foreign purchasers of U.S. Treasury securities increased their holdings, to a total of $5.65 trillion, in October.

In other words, the sky did not fall, as Obama and other liberals insisted it would. Perhaps Americans should bear that in mind the next time Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and others assure us fiscal discipline is bad for the nation.